The surprise removal from power of Burmese Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt this week brought subdued and cautious reactions from members of Cambodia’s government on Wednesday.
Appointed as Burma’s prime minister last year, General Khin Nyunt was taken into custody by the military Monday, placed under house arrest in what appears to be a corruption case.
According to reports, Burmese media quickly followed the news of his “retirement” on Tuesday with announcements that Lieutenant General Soe Win had replaced him.
Some Cambodian officials were hesitant to reach conclusions about the power shift in Burma—labeled a “palace coup” in some reports—and its impact on Cambodia.
“We are still waiting to see the situation, because it is rather unclear,” said Huy Kanthul Vora, secretary of state for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He said Wednesday that further comment would be premature.
Cambodia has shown strong support for Burma in past months, particularly in the face of threats from European leaders to boycott the recent Asia-Europe Meeting if Burma, also known as Myanmar, were to attend.
Although some have expressed concerns over Khin Nyunt’s fall from power, seeing as he was a relative moderate within Burma’s ruling military junta, Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said Wednesday that the removal would have no effect on the nation’s relations with Burma.
“It will not change anything between Cambodia and Myanmar,” he said.
Khieu Kanharith also corrected a reporter who said that Khin Nyunt had been “removed” from his position as prime minister, maintaining that the incident was just “a change, a normal process.”
An Asian diplomat also speculated that the Burmese power shift would cause few ripples in Cambodia.
“Cambodia has traditionally not commented on the internal situation in Myanmar,” he said. “I think their financial relationship will remain strong.”
It has long been the policy of Asean nations to avoid interference in the internal affairs of member states, a political line that has been put under pressure by Burma’s prolonged detention of opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
In August, Khin Nyunt visited Phnom Penh and met with Prime Minister Hun Sen on a regional visit that included Vietnam and Laos. After the meeting, the general told reporters that he and Hun Sen enjoyed a productive discussion and were “like brothers.”
The meeting came as several European nations pressured Burma on the issue of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest since May 2003.
Burma, along with Cambodia and Laos, were newcomers to this month’s Asia-Europe Meeting in Hanoi, and the EU threatened to withdraw from the summit if Burma did not release the opposition leader.
In July, Hun Sen announced his support for Burma and said that Cambodia would “sacrifice” its place at ASEM if the three new Asean countries were not admitted together.
In the end, the EU consented to Burma’s presence at ASEM, but continued to condemn Aung San Suu Kyi’s detention as a breach of human rights.
Reached by telephone Wednesday, Om Yentieng, adviser to Hun Sen and the head of the government’s human rights committee, said he was unaware of the recent incident in Burma.
(Additional reporting by Nhem Chea Bunly)
